Cyril Ramaphosa urged to address soaring youth unemployment in South Africa

CRISIS: Youth unemployment in SA

South Africa’s unemployment rate increased to 33.6% in the second quarter, with 8.5 million people unemployed as political parties called for urgent government intervention to create jobs.

The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) has renewed its call for President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare youth unemployment a national disaster after South Africa’s official unemployment rate climbed to 33.6% in the second quarter of 2026.

Statistics South Africa’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, released on Tuesday, showed the number of unemployed people increased by 345,000 to 8.5 million between April and June.

The increase pushed the official unemployment rate up by 0.9 percentage points from 32.7% in the first quarter.

Cyril Ramaphosa urged to address soaring youth unemployment in South Africa

Other newsrooms on this story

Related reading

ANCYL calls for youth unemployment to be declared national disaster as rate…

ANCYL demands urgent government action youth unemployment as rate hits 33.6%

Ramaphosa highlights youth unemployment as a major concern for South Africa's…

Youth unemployment remains biggest threat to SA's future, says Ramaphosa

Ramaphosa under pressure as concern in ANC over rising unemployment crisis

Ramaphosa bets on R890 billion investment and structural reforms to curb youth…